


Happy Birthday

by GS91020



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Cake, Birthday Party, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Dancing, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Happy Ending, I Love You, Mild Language, Party, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Surprise Party, Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29963724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GS91020/pseuds/GS91020
Summary: Remus wanted to ignore that it was his birthday, but you and the Marauders had other ideas.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & Reader, Remus Lupin/Original Female Character(s), Remus Lupin/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Happy Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> This is a birthday tribute to my king Remus bc its his birthday (3/10) and I am giving him all the fluff and happiness he deserves. Slight TW- mentions of food, alcohol and hints at self-confidence issues. I wrote this in about 3 hours so don't judge too much! Thanks so much to my editor for proof-reading this so quickly! Enjoy!

“Y/n? I got the butter and the sugar, but I don’t know why we need it because I thought we got take-away.”

Remus’ eyes widened at the sight of his friends and family in your small home and he dropped the reusable canvas bag you insisted on using as he closed the door behind him. You stood in the front of everyone else with a slightly nervous smile.

“Surprise! Happy birthday Remus!” everyone shouted.

“We all wanted to celebrate together,” you said.

“Yeah mate, Y/n told us that you were going to do boring old take-away alone for your big 24, and me and ol’ Prongsie here thought, ‘Well that’s just unacceptable, Moony will not be letting his birthday pass quietly,’” Sirius said, giving Remus a glass of something that smelled far too strongly of liquor.

“So, we helped Y/n get you out of the house, and with the help of this bad boy,” James added, swinging his wand around, “we got the place in tip-top shape,” he finished, taking a swig from his own glass.

“I hope you don’t mind, they really wanted to celebrate with you,” You rushed to explain, “and I know that you wanted to keep it small this year but-”

“Thank you, y/n,” Remus cut you off, gently placing his hand in yours with a smile.

“Hey now, don’t forget about the rest of us mate,” James cut in with an indignant huff. Lily quickly swatted his head. “Oi Evans!” he complained, rubbing the back of his head. She responded with a shake of her head and a small, exasperated smile.

“Although there isn’t anything special about 24, I appreciate you doing this for me,” Remus said.

“Happy birthday Remus. Fair warning, they went a little overboard, you know how Sirius is with balloons,” Lily whispered, engulfing him in a hug.

You smiled and led Remus past your entryway into the living room. His eyes widened at the sight he was presented with.

Forest-green balloons with streamers trailing from them littered the ceiling, with bunches at every doorway and window. There were large bunches of flowers and greenery on the tables and most of the flat surfaces in your home. Light shone from the fire in the fireplace and the strings of lights draped around the room. It made your home look enchanting, like a scene from a fairy-tale. Soft music flowed from seemingly everywhere as his eyes took in the scene around him.

“Wow.”

“Right? Let me tell you those balloons, man. Every single one of them, Y/n showed me how to do it without the charm and I must say, it’s much better the muggle way, and your girl has got a pair of lungs mate,” Sirius said, nudging Remus.

You grinned in response. “Oh please, it wasn’t that bad, Sirius just doesn’t want to admit that he almost fainted 10 minutes into blowing them up”.

Sirius looked at you aghast. “How dare you, I told you that I was having allergies.”

James chuckled. “Sure, just keep telling yourself that mate.”

Everyone laughed and James and Lily started passing out glasses to the others as people started chatting and catching up among themselves.

Life had been hectic, and it’d been too long since everyone had gotten together. Soon the space was filled with voices and laughter as people conversed.

People came up to him with birthday wishes which he accepted graciously. Remus slid one hand around your waist and held you to his side, and his glass in the other. On your hip, he drew soothing circles as you mingled. You leaned into him as you talked with Alice, and him with Frank.

The table was full of various dishes that people brought. You hadn’t wanted Remus to feel awkward opening gifts, so instead you had opted for a potluck style; instead of gifts, people brought food. The mouth-watering smells from the table had you and Remus eagerly filling your plates, complimenting those that brought the delicious food.

“Ugh, I need to get that recipe from Alice, these are to die for,” you said, as you took a bite of roast potatoes with a hum of satisfaction.

Remus agreed, nodding with his mouth full of garlic bread. You couldn’t resist giving him a kiss on the cheek. He looked at you, swallowed and smiled. He started to say, “Y/n, I” when he got interrupted, or rather, distracted by something. You turned to see what caused Remus to stop mid-sentence and couldn’t help bursting out laughing. Sirius and James were half-dancing in the living room. Arms flailing and legs awkwardly bending, James looked like a drowning bird. Sirius jumped around, strangely on-beat with him.

“Oh god, I hope Lily sees this,” you said, laughing and tears running down your face.

Remus roared with laughter, half at their antics and half at your response. “Oh, I don’t think she’ll let either of them forget it for a long time,” he said with a shit-eating grin.

You eventually composed yourselves enough to finish your food and you took both of your plates to the sink to clean later. When you returned, Sirius and James were attempting to force Remus to dance with them.

He looked at them with uncertainty, then downing the rest of his drink, stood to follow them, but not before stepping back to peck your forehead.

“Go, I’m excited to see you dance Rem,” you said with a twinkle in your eye.

He followed James and Sirius to the makeshift dance floor, joining the small group gathered, and you watched fondly from your seat, sipping your drink.

Eventually, Lily and Marlene took you to the kitchen to prepare Remus’ last surprise.

Returning to your previously-occupied seat, Remus glanced around, wondering where you had disappeared to. He took a sip from a fresh drink and looked around for you, coming up empty-handed.

Suddenly, James and Sirius appeared around him again.

Sirius loudly banged the side of his glass with a spoon. “Attention everyone!” he shouted. “We just wanted to thank everyone for coming to Remus’ party and for all your contributions and we wanted everyone to personally help wish him happy birthday with-”

You and Lily came out balancing a massive chocolate cake, with ‘Happy Birthday Remus’ written on it in and 24, tiny, green birthday candles on the top.

James began slowly singing, _“Happy birthday to you…”_

Everyone joined in. _“Happy birthday to you!”_

 _“Happy birthday dear Remus.”_ He saw you sing softly, with a smile and furrowed brow on your face as you concentrate on moving the cake to the table.

 _“Happy birthday to you.”_ The song finishes with you and Lily placing the cake in front of him.

He thought for a second, what could he possibly wish for when everything he needed was standing in front of him, waiting with anticipation for him to blow out his rapidly-melting candles.

 _I wish that I can remember this, this moment, this family, and this feeling for the rest of my life,_ he thought to himself. He quickly blew out the candles and everyone cheered.

The cake was cut and passed around and there was a lull in conversation as people grabbed their cake and settled down.

“Y/n you made this?” James asked once everyone was seated on the floor with a piece of cake.

You chuckled at his incredulous look. “Yup, that was me, I can’t cook, but I _have_ perfected this cake and that’s about it.”

Remus sighed in content. “You haven’t made this cake in so long I almost forgot how good it was”.

Gasping, you set your cake down dramatically. “Oh no, that’s a sign of a serious problem here. You’re already forgetting things,” you finished with a playful roll of your eyes.

Everyone laughed at your exchange, and Remus pulled you closer to him. There was a smudge of chocolate icing on the corner of his soft, pink lips and you couldn’t resist kissing the chocolate off.

“My eyes! At least wait until the party is over!” Sirius exclaimed, laughing as you flipped him off in response.

The rest of the night was spent talking, laughing, and enjoying the company of your friends.

At the end of the night, everyone else had left and James, Lily, and Sirius were just finishing saying their goodbyes, putting their coats on, and giving both of you one last tight hug. They ducked out and smiled as the door swung closed behind them.

You and Remus stood in the front hall with his arms wrapped around you as you stayed still in the after-party quiet. At some point, the music had changed to smooth jazz which now enveloped you as you embraced. Neither of you spoke; there was no need to.

Minutes, hours, later you reluctantly pulled away from him to begin cleaning up from the party. You cleared discarded plates and glasses, stacking them and with a wave of your wand as they began to wash themselves and organize neatly on the drainboard. Remus joined you and you worked in comfortable silence. There actually wasn’t much to do because Lily had insisted on doing most of towards the end of the night.

_“Lily put that trash bag away, it can wait until later.”_

_“Y/n, I’m just going to do a quick sweep and pick up some of the rubbish for the bin.”_

_“I see that, and I told you to put it down. I’ll do it after the party, come on, lets go join the boys.”_

_She reluctantly put the bag away but waved her wand on the way out for the leftovers to tidy themselves and settle in the fridge._

Shortly after, you and Remus settled on the couch together, watching the dying fire. You cuddled into his side.

He tilted your head up to look at you. His gaze was adoring and soft.

“Thank you, y/n, for this,” he murmured. “It wasn’t what I was expecting but I am so grateful that you did it.”

You smiled at him softly. “Of course, Rem - I hope you liked it. I know that you don’t like celebrating your birthday but-” You take a deep breath. “You deserve this and so much more. You deserve to enjoy and look forward to your birthday and celebrate with your friends, with me.”

You paused for a moment, just taking him in. The slight scars across the nose dusted with freckles. His piercing eyes that could never decide on one color to be, brown, gold, or anything in between. “I love you so much Rem, and I can’t wait for more birthdays and Christmas’ and everything in between with you,” you continued earnestly, eyes full of hope and love.

He looked at you with tears shining in his eyes. “I love you too y/n. You have given me more than I think I deserve.”

“I-”

“Please let me finish,” he said, cutting your protest short. He paused before saying, “Because of you, I have learned how to love and that I am worthy of your love, or any love. I don’t promise that I’ll believe it every day, but you make me want to try. You make me want to try and be more than what I think of myself on the full moon and you make me want to believe that I am more.” He took a deep breath and looked at you wearily, as if he were worried about how you would respond.

You didn’t want him to worry. There was nothing for him to worry about. Instead of responding, you wrapped your arms around his waist and crushed him to you, forcing the love that you felt into him without words. He returned the embrace just as tight, willing the same thing.

 _It truly was a happy birthday_ , Remus thought to himself.


End file.
